Hello

I have left Finland over a year ago. I kept my OP bank account there so I can login with my credentials to different services (medical, taxes). I also have built up some pension in Finland.

However maintaining a bank account is outrageously expensive on the long term. I have finished with most my business in Finland and want to close this bank account, but then I will not be able to login anymore on those services, which is something I know factually I will require at a later date (but this may be years if not decades from now).

I have found it absolutely impossible to find what the alternatives are – can anyone please tell me?

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**UPDATE: Thanks to all the replies I was able to sort this out but not in the way I wished for. Only companies can do something smart that does not involve bank codes, Finnish citizenship, or a Finnish phone number and contract. Those are the only 3 ways, as of writing (january 2022), of online identification for private persons. This is the info I got from** [**https://www.kansalaisneuvonta.fi/en-US**](https://www.kansalaisneuvonta.fi/en-US) **by calling them. The lady on the phone specified that they’re working on newer and better methods, also for foreigners, to be able to log in. The EU is also working on this. But this is not yet available or possible and she did not know when it would be. In short, I am out of luck.**

The other “free” banks required my physical presence in the country.

I have now closed my OP account.

Thanks again!

9 comments

  3. Unfortunately you don’t have a lot of better options. The only free-ish option is the citizen certificate (kansalaisvarmenne) and AFAIK that requires you to be a resident, and it will expire along with the card.

  4. Maybe try to contact to digital and population data services , dvv.fi (there is an english site) to find out what your alternatives are?

  5. As long as you’re a tax paying resident here, you should have a way to authenticate yourself. There’s a method with a card reader software you could use. Polisii can help with getting that arranged. Hope your DVV registration still reflects a local address in finland.

  6. Kansalaisvarmenne built into Henkilökortti. Valid for five years at a time, doesn’t require you to be a resident of Finland — albeit you do need to be either a citizen or have a residency — and can be applied for at your nearest Finnish consulate or embassy. I’ve had one for twenty years, renewed multiple times at consulates around the world, and it’s made dealing with Finnish bureaucracy extremely easy.

    You need a computer and a smart card reader which, depending where you are, should be cheap and easy to get your hands on because US military (maybe all of NATO?) use them. When using the Henkilökortti to authenticate yourself at [suomi.fi](https://suomi.fi), select “varmennekortti“ as the method.

  7. Have you left Finland for good? You really don’t need to and probably cannot maintain the ability to authenticate online if you give up your bank account since you are no longer a resident.

  8. Man, this is quite a legit question and quite a lot of helpful replies. Why is it being downvoted? Are those downvoting cunts only expect pretty edited photos in this sub?

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